You & I, Defending
by Cry-Pom
Summary: Oneshot. Part of E're Series but can be read alone. If there was one thing the Avengers knew, it was that you didn't mess with the Starks. But it seems that the criminal world hasn't learned that lesson yet; and when the Avengers are out of the Tower, the rest of the household must teach that very important lesson. (Hp not a really a factor, set in late chapters of Awakening.)


You and I, Defending

**I got inspiration for this fic while watching Home Alone with my younger siblings during the Christmas Hols. **

**Takes place in my E're Series, set in the later chapters of Awakening, but it can be read alone. **

**Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>If there was one thing the Avengers knew by now, almost a month after the NY incident, it was that you didn't mess with the Starks.<p>

Yes, Starks; as in more than one.

What the majority of the world didn't know was that Anthony Edward 'Tony' Stark was in fact not the sole remaining member of the Stark family. What the rest of the world didn't know, was that he had a daughter.

Penella Piper Maria 'Penny' Stark was a genius, much like her father, and perhaps, like her father, had a tongue a bit sharper than she should. But that wasn't something she usually had to deal with. She was a Stark, and she made sure that those who knew of her existence knew exactly what that entailed. Because it wasn't just her brilliant, eccentric, billionaire father in a gold-titanium alloy suit that people would have to worry about. She could handle herself perfectly well, thank you very much.

If you would ask the sixteen year old red head with tight shoulder length ringlets and vivid emerald green eyes if she considered her life normal, she would laugh her ass off while asking you what normal was.

Because it was a bit hard to consider your life, or yourself, normal when you're the most recent reincarnation/life of the Immortal soul of the once Harry-Potter-turned-Aequivalere-Immortalis. But that's a story for another time.

Our story actually starts late one evening, when Penny was trying to get her overly protective and very paranoid father to actually _leave_ the rebuilt Tower to answer a call somewhere in Texas that had to do with robots raging rapid in the streets.

Of course, Tony didn't want to leave his daughter alone. Which wasn't that surprising since the last time she had been left alone for a long(ish) period of time, she had ended up with a bullet through her Arc and chest. But again, a story for another time.

"Bloody hell, Dad!" Penny exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air. She was beyond frustrated with her father, and she was past sounding like a broken record. "Just go already! I'll be fine! Your team needs you! I can take care of myself; you know this, so just leave me be and actually play your part in the bloody Avengers!"

"But Pen!" Tony protested, ignoring how his voice sounded more like a whine than anything else.

"Go!" Penny exclaimed, her green eyes narrowing. She knew that her father was just worried, but seriously. She could take care of herself, and Jarvis would let him know instantly if something was going to happen. "I'll be fine. I have the Tower to myself for the night! I'll probably just pig out on popcorn and chips on the couch watching TV until you come home!"

"You should just come with us," Tony stated for the millionth time, his tone practically pleading. "It'd be taken care of so much quicker."

Penny sighed and held back an eye roll. "I've told you. I'm not part of the Avengers, and I will only show up if you all _really_ need my help."

Sometimes, there were moments when Penny wished that she _didn't _have the X-gene on top of everything else, and that her superhero alias had _stayed _dead. At least that way Tony wouldn't want her going out into the public's eye.

He opened his mouth to reply, but Penny was pretty tired of the pointless argument with her father, and she waved her hand at him.

Tony vanished, suit and all, in a swirl of sparks. Her gaze flickering from the now empty balcony she glanced up just in time to see the suit's thrusters engage about fifteen stories above her as Tony caught himself in the air.

She would admit, it was a bit mean to teleport her dad into the middle of NY's airway to get her point across, but she would deal with the repercussions of her actions later.

Her dad was too stubborn for his own good sometimes.

But then again, so was she.

"Jar, let me know when they're on their way back." Penny said as she wandered back into the penthouse, heading towards the kitchen. For once, she was very glad she wasn't wearing her com, she was going to be in major trouble for her stunt and she was glad that Tony would have to wait till he got home to give her a tongue lashing.

Well, he would still be able to if he _really _wanted to, but she hoped that he wasn't _that _angry with her. She would be double screwed if he was.

"Of course, Miss Penny." Jarvis replied instantly as he slid the glass window/door closed behind the teenager. "If I may, was provoking your father really the wisest of ideas? Sir shall be very displeased and disgruntled when he returns to the Tower."

Penny snorted as she strolled into the kitchen. "That's the understatement of a century."

But Penny really couldn't bring herself to care. If Tony _really_ had an issue with what she did they would hash it out, but this mollycoddling wasn't going on any longer. Tony really didn't channel worried Molly Weasley well.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" A tall, brown, curly, haired man asked his shorter companion as they gazed at the blueprints of Stark Tower in front of them. It had taken them almost three and a half weeks to get said blueprints; and the Tower had barely been standing that long!<p>

"Do you really think now is a good time for second thoughts, Carl?" His companion, balding, stout, and blue eyes replied sourly. "We've been plannin' this heist for months! Ever since they built that damned tower we've been plannin' on robbin' it. "

"Well, yeah, but Mo, don't ya think that this is a bit risky?" Carl said timidly as Mo narrowed his eyes at the taller, but dumber, man.

"Risky? 'Course it's risky, but that's why we're doin' this smart. We have the whole place mapped out. Stark and his freaky friends are gone tonight, and intel says they won't be back till mornin'. Even Jerry and Phil are coming with us for extra backup! I've planned this out Carl, and by this time ta'morrow we'll be loaded!"

Carl's hopes and heart were lifted by Mo's passionate speak, and he was quick to nod. They had worked hard for this after all, and they could become famous, or infamous, for breaking into Stark Tower successfully. They'd be set for life when this was over!

"Set for life!" Carl cheered as Jerry and Phil, both wearing ski masks walked into the room.

"Set for life." Mo repeated with a nod as he rolled up the plans.

"Alright boys, you know the plan. So let's get cracking." A wide, and fairly creepy, smile spread across Mo's face as his three partners in crime nodded.

Stark Tower, here they came.

* * *

><p>Penny hadn't even gotten half way through <em>The Giver <em>before Jarvis cut all of the lights, metal panels slid down on all of the windows and Penny could sense the high amount of electricity flowing through the air.

The Tower had just gone into lock down.

"Miss Penny, it seems that we have intruders in the sub levels. Two of them are heading up the east stairwell, and two others are climbing the west one. I am unsure as to how they have gotten passed my security. Shall I remove them from the premises while I attempt to find the error? I can have NYPD here along with SHIELD within minutes, and Sir on the phone even sooner."

Penny's left eyebrow rose as she quickly cast out her senses, worry gripping her heart. Now she was really glad that no one else was in the Tower at this hour; since it was nine o'clock and most of the employees went home at six.

"What happened to the security guards stationed here?" Penny asked swiftly, her mind whirling with the possibilities and the different pros and cons of each action.

Thankfully Pepper was in Dallas, Rhodey in Cali, and Happy was still on his little vacation; at least she didn't have to worry about them being in danger at all.

"They have been subdued, Miss Penny. How would you like me to proceed? Should I make the calls?" Jarvis asked, and Penny knew that if she hadn't been there, then her Dad would already know about the situation and the intruders would already be unconscious.

But as it was, she was here. She had the authority and ability to deal with this situation herself, and so she would.

"No," Penny said as she shook her head and got to her feet. "Don't tell Dad what's going on and keep the police and SHIELD out of it."

"Miss?" Jarvis asked his voice touched with confusion. Turning off the TV Penny smirked up at one of the more noticeable cameras that Jarvis employed.

"We're going to take care of this personally, Jar." Penny told the AI as she chuckled darkly. "And use this opportunity to send a message to all of those in the more normal criminal world."

Penny's lips split into a large dark grin, and if anyone other than Jarvis had been there to see it, they would've back away slowly before running for their lives.

"I think they need a reminder as to why it is extremely unwise to mess with the Starks."

If Jarvis had any protests, he kept them to himself. He simply pulled up the blue prints of the Tower, showing each life signature as a small red dot.

"And how shall we deal with these intruders than, Miss Penny?" Jarvis inquired, his interest caught.

Penny chuckled again, spinning the holographic Tower in front of her.

"Oh, I think we can think of a few ways."

This was going to be fun.

* * *

><p>"…I have a bad feeling about this…" Carl muttered to himself as he and Mo continued their trek up the east stairwell.<p>

Getting into the Tower had been even easier than Carl had thought. They had gotten jobs as security guards, Phil and Carl. Their records were the cleanest, and they had been working in the Tower for two weeks already. It had helped with the plan, and made sneaking Jerry and Mo in inside of a lead and copper lined crate easier. It had gotten the two past the security scanners, and somehow fooling the Tower's AI.

Once the Tower was empty, Stark having been called away to Texas to deal with an attack that Mo had known about in advanced, Phil and Carl had let Jerry and Mo out. After which Jerry had taken out the two other guards swiftly with a can of knockout gas.

Sadly, that alerted the AI to their presence and the Tower went into lockdown.

It was too bad for the rather smart computer that it hadn't turned off the secretary's computer. It had only taken Mo ten seconds to insert the flash drive that had the _very _expensive computer virus on it into said computer.

If Carl's time keeping skills were accurate than the virus should already be in the AI's system; or at least distracting it enough with an attack to its firewalls.

Mo had been right about one thing, they had planned this whole thing out.

Carl just hoped that it would be enough.

* * *

><p>"Miss Penny, a virus-encrypted-algorithm is attacking my inner firewalls!"<p>

Penny's eyes widened as the slight panic in Jarvis' voice and worry gripped her heart. How on earth had a virus even gotten past Jarvis' outer firewalls? They were the best on the goddamned planet!

"How is that possible?! Talk to me Jar," Her voice was cold and hard as she responded swiftly. The hologram for the Tower was pushed aside as Jarvis' code flooded the air as well as the virus' code as the two battled it out in cyberspace.

"It…it's a highly advanced virus, Miss. It completely bypassed my outer firewalls and defenses… as the virus was uploaded from a Tower computer." Jarvis reported and Pen could hear the wince in his voice as he stumbled a few times. Fighting against the virus must be taking up a lot of his mainframe and computing power. Damn it.

"Keep your firewalls up, Jar. Do whatever you need to but keep yourself save." Penny ordered as she narrowed her eyes at the virus' coding floating in the air in front of her. Jarvis had many layers of fire walls. The outer firewalls protected everything that Jarvis had ever touched, every single tentacle that he had in any system. Jarvis worked behind these when doing things for Stark Industries and running mundane operations.

The inner firewalls were more important; they protected all of the more sensitive things, like the Stark's privet servers, SHIELD's files (even if they didn't know it) and things like that. Thankfully, the virus wasn't attacking Jarvis' core firewalls, those protected who Jarvis was, the base of his coding, his very being.

But still, this was far from good.

"Expanding memory banks and operations now Miss," Jarvis reported his voice steadying and she watched as Jarvis' code brutally attacked the virus.

"Does it require all of your attention?" Penny asked after a moment of silence, when the movement of the little life-force bleeps on the Tower hologram caught her attention.

"No, I was forced to pause a few processes but I shall be able to handle it well enough without having to disconnect from the Tower or the Suit." Jarvis informed her and Penny let out a sigh of relief before wincing.

She had forgotten Jarvis was also out in the suit with her dad. That could've been bad.

"Alright." She said after a moment, worry in her stomach turning to rage. "They crossed a line."

Her eyes narrowed and sparks started dancing across her skin as her powers fluctuated with her emotions.

"Mess with the Tower, whatever, we can replace %90 of it. But _no one _is allowed to touch Jarvis." Penny growled to herself as she enlarged the hologram of the Tower.

"Jarvis, initiate Defense Code nine-oh-alpha-eight-tango." She growled, swiping all holograms away and heading towards the elevator.

Both teams of intruders had stopped on the common room floor belonging to the Avengers; and she was going to intercept them.

"Are you sure that it is necessary to activate Defense Living Ghost?" Jarvis asked hesitantly, and she nodded knowing that Jar would be able to see her.

"Oh yes," Penny growled, looking practically livid. "It is completely necessary."

She stepped inside of the elevator and the doors slid shut just as a dark smirk made it's way onto Penny's face.

She had been planning on just spooking them a bit, but now…Hel's wrath would make her plan look like a walk in the park.

No one touched a Starks' things.

* * *

><p>Carl's bad feeling didn't go away as they stepped out of the dark stairwell and into the equally dark hallway. The floor was carpeted, unlike the lower levels of the Tower, and the walls painted in light blue tones. It was too dark to make out any other details, but it seemed that with every step he took the ball of unease in his stomach slowly turned to lead.<p>

"What are we doing here," Carl hissed to Mo quietly, "I thought we were going up to the penthouse!"

Mo rolled his eyes, though Carl could've see the action in such darkness. Their flashlights did little to light the way, and so Carl didn't see Mo's irritation growing.

"We are, ya idiot." Mo replied scathingly. "But this is where the 'vengers live, and…hell, even the floor would have us richer than our dreams!"

Carl nodded slowly.

As the two thieves made their way deeper into the bowls of the Tower, they didn't notice the small metal devices scurrying around their feet.

Soon they stumbled upon the Avengers' living room, and Mo let out a dark chuckle at all of the paintings and artifacts scattered about the room.

If Mo or Carl had been smart, they would've realized that the whole room looked a bit too perfect, or that a slow silver mist had started crawling out of the vents.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the floor, entering the very large and fully stocked kitchen was Phil and Jerry, the two tag-alongs to the rather idiotic thieves.<p>

"You sure that virus disabled the AI?" Phil whispered to his partner as they crept into the kitchen. They were both more silent and quicker than the other two, having a few more brain cells between them.

"Well, Mo said it did." Was Jerry's only reassurance and Phil gulped. "But don't worry about it. If it still worked than do you really think we'd be here right now?"

Unable to think of a suitable argument, Phil nodded slowly, admitting that his partner had a point. Surely the AI would've let them creep around the Tower if it was still active?

"Grab anything valuable." Jerry whispered to Phil as they started raiding the silverware drawers.

* * *

><p>Leaning against the kitchen doorway completely invisible Penny sighed, shaking her head. They really were idiots. Everything in the Tower, SI documents, the R&amp;D labs, <em>their<em> Labs, the bloody penthouse, and they go after the Avengers' silverware?

Pathetic.

Oh well, even pathetic morons could be taught a lesson.

* * *

><p><em>Swump, boom.<em>

At the same time, both duos froze as a deep thumping sound echoed through the Tower.

_Swump, boom. _

"What's that?" Carl whispered to Mo. He was pretty much terrified. He knew that this job had been a bad idea!

"Just the air conditioner." Mo said dismissively, continuing to walk down the hallway, looking for another room to loot.

_Swump, boom._

"Mo, I don't think that's the AC!" Carl exclaimed looking around in panic as the noise steadily got louder.

"Shut it Carl, it's just your imagination." Mo dismissed him with a wave of his hand as they snuck into another room.

* * *

><p><em>Swump, boom.<em>

"Ok, Jerry it's getting louder!" Phil exclaimed in a panic as they both froze in the kitchen, before turning to glance at each other in fear.

_Swump, boom._

"…let's try another room. Maybe it's just the AI trying to get back online." Jerry tried to calm his partner as they strode out of the now destroyed kitchen.

_Swump, boom._

When they entered the hall way, they both froze. A thick white mist was covering the carpeted floor; it was eerie and chilled their feet as it swept around them.

"Something isn't right." Phil whimpered as they shared a look.

_Swump, boom._

The floor suddenly shook, and another noise joined the thumping.

_Whiirrll-click-click-whiiirrrlll-click-click _

Both men stilled, and slowly turned around towards the noise. Their flashlights reflected against the mist, and something silver appeared at the far end of the hallway before a large burst of fire rained down upon them.

_Swump, boom._

"AAHHHH!" Both men screamed as they fell to the floor to avoid the flames.

The chilling mist caused them to sneeze as they glanced at each other at the same time the flames retreated.

_Whiirrll-click-click-whiiirrrlll-click-click _

"Your hair's on fire!" Phil shrieked with wide eyes as he caught sight of his partners head. Jerry had very long brown hair, and it was currently aflame.

Only then did the other man notice the heat and leapt into the air with a yowl.

"I don't think that AI is disabled…" Phil said slowly as Jerry tried to put his hair out.

_Swump, boom. _

_Whiirrll-click-click-whiiirrrlll-click-click _

The noises echoed down the hallway, causing the two men to freeze again. They shared a look again as their flashlights flickered, before dying all together.

_Swump, boom. _

_Whiirrll-click-click-whiiirrrlll-click-click _

"Jerry…" Phil said slowly as both noises became louder and louder.

_Swump, boom. _

_Whiirrll-click-click-whiiirrrlll-click-click _

The second noise was louder than the first now, practically drowning out the thumping noise. Jerry was shaking in both fear and in pain. His hair was now practically gone, only small inch long pieces of charred hair clung to his rather toasted scalp.

"Jerry…" Phil said again, hysteria climbing into his voice as something silver glinted at the end of the hallway. It was getting closer, closer, and the noise was getting louder.

_Swump, boom. _

_Whiirrll-click-click-whiiirrrlll-click-click _

Two slanted red dots appeared, only a food from Phil's face on the floor.

Phil scrambled back, but it was too late.

_Click_.

Fire burst into being again and Phil tried to crawl away, as the fire consumed the spot he had been lying on.

"WHA…!" Jerry took off down the hall, fleeing from the flames, not wanting to get burned again.

"JERRY!" Phil screamed as he too scrambled to his feet and fled.

_Swump, boom. _

The Tower shook, and the two managed to slide into a spare room, with only some minor burns. The mist was less thick in here, but it was just as dark.

They collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily, the bag of loot and their guns forgotten in the hall.

"That was close." Jerry said mostly to himself, but Phil nodded anyway.

"We need to get out of here…" He breathed, his hands shaking.

_Swump, boom. _

"Agreed." Jerry finally relented, knowing that continuing was pointless and now they just needed to get out of this Tower without becoming barbeque.

"_Leaving so soon?" _A high, scratchy, echoing voice asked. Freezing, both men slowly turned their heads to see a floating woman with blue skin, stained with blood, and her head in her arms, sitting next to them.

"_But the fun has just begun." _The head being held in the woman's arms smirked, blood dripping from her lips, causing both men to scream.

* * *

><p><em>Swump, boom. <em>

"AAAHHHH!"

Carl and Mo froze, Carl shooting Mo a piercing look.

"We should get out of here!" Carl exclaimed, glancing around the room and his eyes widening at the white mist pouring in from the air vents.

"We really gotta get out of here!" Carl screamed, seriously panicking now.

Mo scowled, not wanting to show his unease in front of his partner in crime.

_Swump, boom. _

"It's just that stupid AI trying to scare us." Mo told Carl as he pushed Carl out into the hallway, they had already pulled anything of value out of the library.

As soon as they left the library, the door slammed shut behind them with a loud crashing noice, causing Carl to jump as suddenly more and more slams echoed as the rest of the doors on the floor slammed shut.

_Swump, boom. _

The floor shook, and Carl looked ready to pee his pants.

"Come one Mo, it's not worth it!" Carl was practically whining as he turned around and swiftly made his way towards the stairs.

"Oi!" Mo called out, grabbing the back of Carl's shirt. "You aren't going anywhere!"

"Like hell I'm staying here!" Carl struggled as the Tower shook again.

_Swump, boom. _

"Forgive me, it seems that my attention has been elsewhere." Jarvis's voice suddenly echoed through the speakers as the temperature dropped. "Is there something you two are looking for? Because I believe this area of the Tower is _off limits_."

The AI's tone of voice changed so drastically that both men fled towards the stairs, Mo wondering how on earth the AI had dealt with the virus so quickly.

Carl fell on his face as he tripped over his own two feet only a foot from the stairs. Mo didn't stop, and flung the stairway door open the same time the Tower shook for the last time.

_Swump, boom. _

The door fell open to reveal a very large, silver Iron Man suit known as the Mrk II, its eyes were glowing red and the chest piece casting shadows on the men.

"Leaving so soon?" Jarvis' voice was twisted by the suit's voice modifier, and Mo fell back in shock, his hand wrapping around the nine millimeter strapped to his belt.

"AAAHHHH!" Carl screamed, a dark stain appearing on his pants as he gazed up at the glowing red eyes.

Gun shots echoed through the air as Mo frantically tried to stop the armor as it stepped forward with a thump.

"Tsk, tsk," Jarvis waved one finger from the suit as he stepped forward. "It is rude to fire against someone in their own home."

They could practically hear the smile in the AI's voice, and that scared them even more than the armor did.

"You know," Jarvis continued as the stairway door snapped closed behind him. "I really don't appreciate viruses, and I _detest _people who manage to slip them into my systems."

"You're just a computer program!" Mo shouted, glancing between the armor and his, now unconscious, partner.

A dark chuckle echoed through the Tower, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Everyone left in the Tower heard it, and all conscious intruders shivered.

"A computer? Oh I am so much more than a computer program Mr. Devon." Jarvis chuckled again as the man's face paled to a pasty white.

"H…how do you know my name!" He exclaimed and Jarvis just chuckled again.

"I know everything about you." Jarvis stated simply. "I know everything about every single intruder in this Tower, but it was you who interested me the most, Moran Joshua Devon. You were born March 19th 1981. Dropped out of highschool at the age of sixteen, don't have a GED, but do have multiple warrants out for your arrest in about six different states. Two years ago the FBI believed you to be assisting terrorists, but enough proof was never found for your incarceration. You got on SHIELD's radar by attempting to pickpocket one of their agents in the middle of a mission. The most successful job you have every pulled only earned you twenty grand, and you have a younger sister named Jade who is a school teacher in Alabama. You had already spent four years in prison by the time you were twenty three, and haven't spoken to either of your parents in twelve years.

Mo looked ready to faint by the time Jarvis was done, basically his whole life lying out in front of him, he didn't even know who/what SHIELD was, but he knew what incident he was talking about. He hadn't been able to move for a week after that red head was done with him.

"You are nothing but a little worm, who keeps trying to wiggle into the sunlight." Another voice sneered, and Mo spun around to see a red haired teenage girl standing in the hallway behind him. She was wearing black jeans and a dark green Tshirt, but it was the fact that she had electricity dancing around her, and a very large knife in her hand that scared him the most.

"You and your friends are to leave this Tower," Her voice was soft but deadly, promising pain if he didn't follow every word she said.

His brain wasn't working; he was in too much shock. Everything he had worked for in the past few months was gone…foiled by some fucking Skynet AI…and teenage girl who may or may not be something the AI created.

He blinked, and suddenly the girl was holding him up in the air by the collar of his shirt, her green eyes glowing.

"And you shall tell everyone you know, spread the word. _No one _is to mess with Stark. Not thieves, not hackers, not arsonists, terrorists, or supervillains. Because if someone attempts to mess with what we call our own, they will get _burned_."

Penny's eyes were cold slits as she dropped the man to the ground, before a chirping noise echoed down the misty hall, and two robots appeared, dragging unconscious Phil and Jerry behind them.

"Good boys," Penny stated simply as Phil and Jerry were dumped beside Carl.

Mo blinked, and a third robot appeared in the light, this one carrying a large flame thrower in its claws.

Barely able to believe what he sees in the darkened hallway, Mo stares between the suit and teenager in fear.

"Who are you people!" Mo whimpered, trying to figure out how he was supposed to get out of the Tower with three unconscious men weighing him down.

Penny and Jarvis chuckle darkly at the same, Penny's smirk growing.

"We are Tony Stark's greatest creations," They intoned at the same time, causing shivers to crawl up Mo's spine. "And we are very protective of our maker."

Suddenly Mo's vision blurred and a weird squack-sqeak noise battered against his ear drums and Jarvis's voice echoing all around him.

"Tell no one of what you've seen here, Mr. Devon. I shall know if you do, and there is no place on earth that is safe from me. You would be wise to remember that."

When his vision cleared, the suit and girl were gone, leaving Mo, his partners in crime, and a very large, zombie chicken with red eyes alone in the misty hallway.

"GAAAHHH!" Mo screamed as its black break suddenly surged towards him.

* * *

><p>Penny stood still as she watched Mo drag all three people out of the Tower and into the sewers. It was the only door that Jarvis kept unlocked for them, and it slid shut behind them instantly.<p>

(And no, don't ask why they had a door leading to the sewers.)

"I must say, Miss Penny, the zombie chicken proved to be very motivational." Jarvis commented from the ceiling, and Penny nodded absently. She was slightly upset that she hadn't been able to put more of her ghost holograms into effect.

It seemed that not even half of the protocol had even been needed, as most of the intruders had been unconscious before it had even run half of its course.

"Well, our holograms are very believable when we wish them to be." Penny commented as she slid the holograms aside and turned her attention towards U, Butterfingers, and Dummy who were sliding around the floor.

"I want this place spotless!" Penny ordered the bots who continued to clean. "No one needs to know what happened here."

Dummy waved his arm up and down, beeping a few times before rolling off down the hall.

"And that means no fire extinguishers, Dummy!" Penny exclaimed at the last moment just before the bot slid out of sight.

"Why did I let him have the flamethrower again?" She muttered to herself before turning around and walking off.

Jarvis said that the Avengers would be back in two hours; at least that gave her enough time to clean up.

* * *

><p>But the time the Avengers did get home, almost everyone was exhausted. It was late by then, but no one wandered off to bed. They all crowded into the Avengers' common room kitchen for a midnight snack. The situation had been taken care of rather swiftly, according to Tony and Barton, and the thing that had taken so long was the debrief on the Helicarrier.<p>

(According to Tony, Fury hadn't been very happy about the fact that he had been late, or that Hulk had taken down the power to the town they were supposed to be defending.)

"See," Penny told her father as they all sat down at the kitchen table with some hot chocolate. "I told you I'd be fine."

"Alright, alright," Tony huffed with an eye roll. "You were right, happy?"

"Very," Penny chuckled, causing her dad to ruffle her hair with a teasing smirk.

Romanoff excused herself for a moment, and strode out of the room. Steve, at the same time, got to his feet and pulled open the silverware drawer.

Time seemed to slow for a moment as Penny's gut squirmed, before everything returned to normal.

"Um, where's all the silverware?" Steve asked, and Penny's eyes widened.

"Huh?" Tony and Barton asked at the same time just as Romanoff poked her head back around the doorframe.

"Someone care to explain why there's scorch marks on the carpet out here?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow as and as one the Avengers all turned their gazes to Penny.

"Um," She said awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Dummy did it!" She exclaimed before vanishing in a swirl of sparks as Tony's eyes narrowed.

"PENNY!"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that didn't turn out how I thought it would…but oh well. It got me writing again, which is a good thing, right? I have no idea how this turned out, but I hope it was at least entertaining. I think I needed something to kick start my brain back into writing mode, and this seems to have done it. <strong>

**Review all of you wonderful people!  
>Cp<strong>


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